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Wednesday 6 april 2022 locAl
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Island’s birds Episode CXLVIII- 148

Etnia Nativa’s goal is to create cultural awareness, pro-
mote education and safeguard our heritage by guid-
ing our readers to become the next and new guard-
ians of our island Aruba.

In this episode we want to raise awareness and the im-
portance of birds as an integral part of our culture and
the risk that some of them are in risk of extinction on
our island. Many of these feather creatures delight us
whit their colors and others with their song, but in reality
they have a much greater importance birds in general
have in human societies, with uses and values that vary
over time and space. They are used as food, decora-
tion, amulets, pets, medicine, in rituals, falconry, as fish
catcher, for their feather, art and recreation.
tonsure of the friars, gave the bird its man activity. Hunts over quiet plunging
If the birds where to disappear, so do the eco- Papiamento name. “church bird”. The down, feet first, usually fully submerging
nomically valuable services they provide. Birds pol- female is not so brightly coloured and in a splash of water, and if successful,
linate flowers, disperse seeds, and help eliminate lacks the brown stripes and the cap. The coming clear of the water with elabo-
rodents, insects, weed seeds, and other parasites. thin bill indicates clearly the insectivo- rate wings beats and a fish in one of
Birds are very important for our ecosystem since they rous nature of this bird. It is always busy its talons. Prey is consumed on regular
also act as dispersal agents, in addition to pollination, looking for bugs hiding in the bushes. Of- perching places on a bare branch of
for the simple fact of having a frugivorous diet. That is ten a branch is systematically stripped mangrove tree or other high and ex-
to say, birds have adapted organisms so that they can of its insects. posed site on poles, isolated boulders
eat and process seeds, which in many occasions are of cliff coast, sometimes on the ground
the part main of their diet. An other visitor to our island is the:The among the coral shingle of reef walls.
osprey, (Pandion haliaetus) knows in
The yellow warbler our lenguage papiamento as “ Teishi Saffron finch
One of the endagerouse species is or Yellow Warbler or Gabilan piscado”, also called sea As there are many other birds to pres-
(Dendroica petechia) knows “Parha di Misa” or church hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a ent to you, in this episode we will end
bird in Papiamento, sometimes miscalled the wild ca- diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a by sharing something about the well-
nary, which breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland to cosmopolitan range. It is a large rap- known Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola).
the West Indies, Peru, and the Galapagos Islands; it is tor reaching more than 60 cm in length This bird is an example of some of the
13 cm (5 inches) long, and the males have faintly red- and 180 cm across the wings. It is brown birds introduced to our island by man.
streaked underparts. Being a very confident bird it is on the upperparts and predominantly The saffron finch is a tanager from South
easily spotted by its bright yellow colour when it scur- greyish on the head and underparts. America that is common in open and
ries through the bushes and the few mangrove forests semi-open areas in lowlands outside the
pathes that are still around. The male has brown stripes Ospray Amazon Basin. The male is bright yellow
on the breast and along the sides and wears a brown Virtually always present along our reefs with an orange crown which distinguish-
cap. It is said that the resemblance of its cap with the . Inhabits lagoons behind reef walls and es it from most other yellow finches.
inland bays. Appears to be territorial, The females are more difficult to iden-
but often two and sometimes three birds tify and are usually just a slightly duller
have been seen raher close together, version of the male. Typically nesting in
uttering their plaintive calls like “weep- cavities, the saffron finch makes use,
weep”. Regular perching and sleeping bamboo branches and under house
places include factory towers and elec- roofs - this species is tolerant of human
tric standards, sometimes close to hu- proximity, appearing at suburban areas
and frequenting bird tables.

If you love Aruba its origins and its cul-
tural heritage, be part of the exclusive
visitors of this cozy home-atelier called
“Etnia Nativa”. This private residential
houses collections of native art, archae-
ological artifacts and historic furniture,
while the facilities themselves are the
result of the transformation of recycled
materials.

Meet the acclaimed columnist at
home! Book your visit Whatsapp + 297
592 2702- or mail: etnianativa03@gmail.
com.q